


Down the Hall

by HappyLittleLemon



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Campaign 2 (Critical Role), Dungeons & Dragons Races, M/M, Multi, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24129301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyLittleLemon/pseuds/HappyLittleLemon
Summary: "I'll just be down the hall"Caleb Widogast somehow finds himself in the middle of a love triangle. How will he handle it when the two vying for his attention are both just a little walk down the hall?
Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast, Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 17
Kudos: 73





	1. Project Partner

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this is my first time writing something and publishing it! Any comments would be greatly appreciated <3 thank you for your support!
> 
> You can follow me on twitter @HappyLittleLem

Caleb knew that something was amiss when he woke. Reaching for his phone it took his sleep idled brain a few moments to comprehend what he was seeing; 8:15AM. He was going to be late for work. Leaping out of the bed, he quickly threw on the first set of clothes his hands could grab from his wardrobe. Almost tripping whilst pulling up his worn in comfy jeans, he mutters a quick "scheisse" at his decade-old alarm clock, throws some dry food into Frumpkins bowl, and heads for the door. "Sorry Frumpkin, wet food for dinner tonight, the good stuff I promise" he quickly pats his Bengal cat, and heads out the door. Doing the math quickly in his head, as long as the next scheduled bus arrives on time he should only be a couple of minutes late for work. Thankfully, the bus shows up on time and Caleb quickly finds an unoccupied seat. 

He pulls out his phone to see he has a lot more notifications than he was expecting. Starting with his text messages, he finds one from his roommate (and best friend) Nott - 'On night shift 2nite, plz leave fud 4 me if cooking'. This was a standard message from Nott, with her working in security for one of the most popular hotels in Wildemount, The Lavish Chateau. Rolling his eyes at her insistence on texting like she didn't know how to spell, he sends a simple thumbs up. Moving on to the next message, his eyes are assaulted with a spray of color, immediately recognizing this to be Jester -'Heyyyyyy Cay, just checking to make sure you're still up for meeting tomorrow night at mine, gonna be super chill with just a few people hanging out ok! love you byeeee!!' and a spattering of cute, colorful emoji to end. Caleb smiled to himself at his friends ability to be so energetic this early. Opening up his emails Caleb noticed one from Bryce, his boss. Noticing at the last second that the bus is about to pull away from his stop, Caleb shoves his phone into his jacket, rushes out of his seat and awkwardly asks to be let off the bus. 

Quickly making his way off the bus he heads in the direction of his work - The Zadash Museum of History. Making his way up the stone steps, he sends a quick wave to Calianna, who was sitting behind the information desk, and makes his way to his office. The sight that greets him is one of safe familiarity. Bookshelves line the walls to his left and right, a window at the back of the room gives him a wonderful view out onto the small yard behind the museum. Caduceus had taken it upon himself to fix the yard over the years, pulling out the weeds and planting beautiful flowers in their place. Caleb quite enjoyed leaving his window open to allow the smell of orchids and lavender to float into his office. Placing his bag down on the desk he sets up his laptop. Noticing that his desk was starting to get on the messier side he made quick work of tidying his notes and giving it a quick dusting. The building was old, so dust was to be expected. Caleb was so caught up in his cleaning he almost missed the sound of someone knocking at his door. 

"Oh, ah, come in!" Caleb quickly threw his trash in the garbage can and turned to face the door. Standing at the entrance was Caleb's boss, and friend, Bryce. Caleb noticed another individual in the hall but they were mostly hidden behind Bryce. 

"Caleb, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the museums research department, Essek Theylss, he's joining us from the Roshanna Museum, and helping in the research surrounding the history of Xhorhas." Bryce stepped to the side and allowed the other figure to enter the room. Standing there was a young-looking Drow, short platinum white hair and deep purple eyes. The figure was wearing a black jumper with purple and silver threads running through it, and simple black jeans. 

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, as Bryce said my name is Essek. I believe we will be working very closely together on several projects, I look forward to getting to know you better" Essek held out his hand for Caleb to shake. It took a moment for Caleb's mind to process what Essek had just said, and quickly grasped the other man's hand in his. 

"Oh, yes I look forward to working with you as well on these...projects." Caleb sent a quick, confused glance at Bryce. 

"Ah yes, well all the information is in the email I sent you both this morning, but I think we'll give Essek the day to settle in and start work properly tomorrow. Come along Essek, let's go find Caduceus next and get ourselves some tea." Essek nodded his head and exited the room. 

"I'm sorry Bryce, I didn't have a chance to read that email, I'm running a bit behind today, I think it's about time for me to get a new alarm clock" Caleb awkwardly scratched the back of his head, not liking being so caught off guard.

"It's ok Caleb, just make sure to read it before tomorrow. Essek will be in the office just down the hall from yours if you have any questions for him." Bryce sent Caleb a quick wave and closed the door behind them.

Caleb threw himself into his desk chair and immediately began reading that email. The projects sounded quite exciting when he thought about it. The Zadash Museum had worked closely with the museum in Xhorhas on several research papers, usually corresponding through emails and Skype calls. This would be the first time that a team of researchers would be working together in the same building. This would also be the first time Caleb would work on one of these papers. Taking a moment to collect his excitement, he eventually got started on his work. 

It didn't take long for thoughts of the project, and also his project partner, to invade his mind. Caleb could admit to himself that Essek was attractive. He had an air of confidence about him that Caleb found intriguing. Not to mention his eyes. Essek was not the first Drow that Caleb had met, but his eyes stood out much more than any other Drow he knew. The beautiful violet color was almost intimidating. Shaking his head, Caleb reprimanded himself and forced himself to concentrate.

~~~~~~~

Having missed out on breakfast Caleb was ravenous by lunchtime. Closing over his laptop he made his way to the canteen. Slightly distracted by the thought of lunch, he almost missed the sight of Essek sitting at a table by himself. Quickly picking up a sandwich and some tea, Caleb makes his way over to Essek's table. It's important for us to get along, he tries to justify himself. Caleb chooses the seat opposite from Essek.

"I hope you don't mind me joining you" Caleb says, placing his lunch down. 

"Not at all, Caduceus was going to stay but he mentioned something about flowers?" Essek responded, before tucking back into his soup.

"Ah, on Tuesdays Cad checks up on the small garden outside, he's a wonderful gardener. You should check it out if you ever need a space to take a breather, it's quite relaxing" Caleb tucks into his lunch.

"I'll remember that when we're working on our projects" Essek responds, taking a sip from his water bottle. 

"Have you worked on many research papers before?" Caleb asks, hoping that one of them would know how to begin this paper. 

"Yes I-" his response interrupted by the arrival of another person at the table.

"Sup Caleb, who's the new guy?" sitting beside Caleb in her usual full training gear, was one of Caleb's longest friends, Beau.

"Oh, ehm, Beauregard this is Essek, he has just joined us from the research department in Xhorhas and we'll be working together on some papers for the museum, Essek this is Beauregard, she is the Cobalt Sol Archive representative here in the museum." Beau reached her hand out for Essek to shake, who after a moment of hesitation, grasps Beau's hand in his.

"Sup, welcome to the museum,call me Beau" Beau turns back to face Caleb "Where were you this morning man, I thought you wanted to join me and Fjord for some training?" 

"Oh I'm sorry Beau I overslept, I think my alarm clock has finally kicked the bucket. I promise I'll be there tomorrow." Caleb internally winces at the thought, knowing how much his body really seems to hate training. 

"Alright, good, I just wanted to come over and say hi, I've gotta Skype Dairon from wherever the fuck they are in the world" Beau hops up out of her seat and makes her way out of the canteen. 

"Apologies about that, Beau can be quite... abrasive without meaning to be, she's a great friend and quite talented at a number of things, including martial arts." Caleb states, hoping that Essek would accept Beau for how she is and not judge her like a lot of assholes in the museum and beyond. 

"She must be quite smart to be working for the Cobalt Sol. I've heard a lot of great things about them and any institution set up to preserve history is good in my books. I assume this training she was referring to was in relation to martial arts?" Essek turned back to his lunch. 

Caleb let out a small sigh of relief. It wouldn't look well if they had gotten into an argument before they had even begun working together. Caleb wasn't usually confrontational, but his friends meant a lot to him. 

"Oh hah, no no, not martial arts training, just some fitness training really, I spend so much time in my office doing research that I forget to take care of myself. Beau has kindly offered to help me take care of my physical health, she studied how to be a fitness trainer alongside her training in the Cobalt Sol Archives." 

"That's quite impressive."

"Ja, she's one of the most impressive people here". There's an awkward pause before Essek picks up his trash and stands up. 

"Well I must get back to my office, I have quite a bit of unpacking to do" Essek sends a cordial nod Caleb's way, throws his garbage away, and heads out of the canteen. 

Not wanting to give himself too much time to over analyse that encounter, Caleb quickly scoffs down the remainder of his lunch and makes his way back to his office. 

~~~~~~

Putting his key through the door Caleb is more than delighted to be home. After such a hectic morning, semi-awkward lunch and constantly having to remind himself to focus, Caleb is exhausted. The soft patter of feline paws and the loud "mrow" out of Frumpkin lets Caleb know his furry friend is impatiently waiting for dinner. Not one to back on a promise Caleb dumps his stuff at the door and goes to get a sachet of wet food.

"Look Frumpkin, it's chicken, your favorite. Ja, I know I'm the worst for abandoning you this morning with just dry food, here you can have the full packet and some treats how's that?" Caleb gives Frumpkin his food and throws himself down on the couch. Taking a few moments to collect himself, he thinks about what to have for dinner. Preferably something simple that he can leave some for Nott. He settles on some pizza and garlic bread. Not the healthiest meal, but it's something he can throw in the oven for 20 minutes and it's done. 

After a quick dinner the exhaustion of the day truly hits Caleb and he decides to call it a day. He shuffles into the tiny bathroom he shares with Nott, gets himself ready for bed, and remembers at the last second to set an alarm on his phone instead.


	2. Perfect Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey here's chapter 2 for you guys!
> 
> Thank you for all the support on the last chapter, it means a lot!
> 
> Follow me on Twitter @HappyLittleLem

“So I suggest that we start with sharing our background and what we specialize in, that way we can divide up the project by who we feel is more suitable for each section”

Essek's office was understandably still quite bare, he had frames on the wall containing what looked like university certificates, but Caleb could not find a single item in the room that gave him any personal information on the man sitting across from him. Essek had sent Caleb an email the next morning asking to meet in his office to discuss their upcoming projects. 

It had taken Caleb several minutes of fixing his shirt and calming his breathing before he mustered the courage to head to Essek's office. Something about him was intimidating. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed so sure of himself when he had just arrived at the museum. Caleb knew that it took him weeks before he felt comfortable anywhere. It was thanks to people like Beau and Fjord that he settled in so well at the museum. They forced Caleb out of his comfort zone, and he couldn’t be more thankful.

Focusing back on Essek, Caleb took a second to figure out what to say. He knew that out of the two of them Essek was the more experienced, but he didn’t want Essek to think him dead weight. 

“Well, in the two museums I’ve worked in I worked for the history of Wildemount department. In total that gives me around 13 years of experience. I’ve written several research papers myself, mostly on archaeological digs that have occurred over the years. I accumulate all of the data that can be ascertained from the uncovered artifacts and compare it to what we already know, and other research papers.” Caleb inhales deeply, having forgotten to breathe during his speech. 

Essek just manages to stop his mouth from curling into a grin, but Caleb can see the amusement in his eyes. _Scheisse, he must think I'm a blithering idiot._ Caleb adjusts himself on his seat and casts his eyes down to the floor.

“Well that is going to be quite useful during this project. A lot of days are going to be spent comparing previous research papers, and considering this project was prompted by an archaeological dig done in Prides Call, I’ll leave it to you to read over the notes sent up by the archaeologists.” Essek sent Caleb a small smile, before straightening up. 

“As for myself, I have worked on several of these collaborative research papers before. I have usually taken the position of project lead, so if you are not opposed to that I will assume that position again,” Essek pauses to give Caleb a chance to argue. Caleb gives his head a shake.

“Very well then. I must warn you that these projects can get quite tedious at times, but it is important to be thorough. The last thing we need after months of work, is for someone to point out something we forgot and have this all mean nothing.”

“I do not mind tedious, I am quite used to it at this point. Remind me again how long we have to finish this assignment?” Caleb asks.

“Around nine to ten months, there is an option to extend the project by up to three months on the off chance we do not manage to finish this on time, the world is unpredictable, anything could happen to either of us, so the extension is there as a safety net.” 

Caleb nodded and began fidgeting with his hands. He didn’t want to disappoint Essek, or the museum. This was a lot of pressure, and from what Caleb understood most of these research papers were written by a much larger team than this. _You’ll just have to power through, you’re used to pulling all-nighters when work gets tough, how bad can nine months o-_

“So how was training this morning?” 

Caleb's thoughts are interrupted by the man sitting across from him. His brain had been so caught up in panic mode that he failed to hear what was asked.

“Was?” he says, trying to bring his focus back on the present. 

“Your training with Beau? Brown hair, about your height, looks like she could punch you through a wall?” Essek definitely fails to keep the smirk off his face this time.

“Oh, right, yes, Beauregard. Hah, well I’m still alive so that’s something.” Caleb jokes, but can feel the pain deep within his arm and leg muscles. Beau seemed to be on a mission to make up for the session Caleb missed the day before. Usually, Beau would be a bit more lenient on him, given the fact that Caleb had next to no muscle mass but today's session was extra hard.

“I can tell that she pushed you to your limit today, you haven’t stopped wincing since you sat down” Essek smiles softly, folding his hands together on the desk. 

“Apologies, I promise I’ll be in better form tomorrow” Caleb shuffles and winces again, causing Essek’s smile to widen slightly. 

“No need to apologize, just tell her I’ll need you in one piece tomorrow, you’re important to this project Caleb,” Essek clears his throat gently, “Right, well I suppose we know what parts of the project we can each undertake, perhaps we should spend the rest of the day gathering any papers or information that may be useful to us?”

Caleb can tell that there is a slight blush on his cheeks from Essek's words. He stands before he can embarrass himself further in front of Essek. 

“Yes of course, I’ll gather some papers from my office and see if I can find anything useful” He makes his way out of Essek’s office without turning back, afraid to see the look on Essek’s face. 

~~~~~~

It’s only near the end of the work day that Caleb remembers that he agreed to head to Jesters for dinner. He finishes off his email to Essek, linking him to some of the papers that he wrote. He hopes they meet the standard Essek is used to. Making his way out of the museum he thinks on why he feels the need to impress Essek so much. 

Essek was sure of himself, but Caleb was surrounded by people like that. Essek worked for a different museum, maybe he just wanted to show the Zadash museum in its best light. _Beauregard works for the Cobalt Sol but you didn’t try to impress her when you met._ Caleb tries to put those thoughts at the back of his head for another time. Making his way to The Invulnerable Vagrant Cafe, he stops to pick up some doughnuts for Jester, knowing that they were her favorite. 

After a quick chat with one of the Sol quadruplets, he thinks it’s Pumat, he makes his way to the bus to head to Jesters. The bus journey is thankfully uneventful, giving Caleb enough time to mentally prepare for the onslaught of extrovertedness that is Jester. He sends a quick text to Nott to check that she is still coming. Thankfully she hadn’t been called in to work and was on her way as well. 

Jester was lucky enough to live in such a nice apartment. With Marion Lavorre as your mother and also working as a successful tattoo artist, Jester was able to afford living in one of the nicest areas in Zadash. Having been buzzed into the building, Caleb made his way to Jester's door. Caleb could already hear the sound of several voices inside, he could hear Beau talking loudly and the faint sound of music in the background. Knocking on the door, Caleb had just enough time to run his hand through his hair in a vague attempt at fixing it, before the door flew open. 

“Hey Caleb, come on in” Fjord greeted him. Having been in a relationship for over a year now, Fjord had recently moved in with Jester. The two worked well together, Fjord helping Jester take things a bit more seriously, and Jester helping Fjord let loose every once in a while. 

“Hey man, I went looking for you after work, I could have given you a lift” Beau came over, giving Caleb her signature pat on the back as a greeting. To Caleb the pat almost felt like a punch, but he maintained composure and sent a small smile at his friend.

“It’s alright, I went to Pumat’s to grab some doughnuts for Jester” hearing the sounds of fast approaching footsteps, Caleb turned to face an incoming tiefling. 

“Caleb! It’s so good to see you! I heard doughnuts, who has doughnuts?” Jester practically picked up Caleb in a hug. He felt a couple of faint cracks in his back from the sheer force of the hug.

“Here I picked up some for you on my way over” Caleb handed over the bag of sweet treats to a giddy looking Jester. 

“Oh these are from Pumat's, thank you Caleb!” Jester came in for another hug, this one almost as tight as the first. Her smile is quickly replaced by a bashful look and her eyes drop to the floor.

“Now I feel even worse about this, I’m sorry Caleb, I forgot to mention that I invited a couple of new friends as well,” noticing the hesitation creeping onto Caleb's face, Jester quickly grabs a hold of Caleb's hand, “Don’t worry they’re super nice, they both started working in the tattoo shop with me, they’re really cool, but if you don’t feel comfortable I can uninvite them.” 

Jester gently runs her thumb over Caleb’s knuckle in a comforting gesture. He takes a moment to breathe, hearing Nott be let in by Fjord and coming to join them. Not wanting to worry his little friend he composes himself.

“It’s alright Jester, I think I’ll manage for tonight” Caleb mutters. Jester gives his hand a quick squeeze and heads off to greet Nott.

“Nott, how is the best detective in all of Wildemount doing?” Jester leans down to give Nott a hug. The two of them were the strangest friendship to observe from the outside, but Caleb was glad that Nott had someone as strange and outgoing as Jester to bring out that side of her.

“I dunno Jester, how is the best detective in all of Wildemount doing?” the two of them share a conspiratorial grin. Caleb is just about to greet Nott when he hears the buzzer go off. 

Jester skips over to the panel on the wall and presses the button to allow them in. Nott sends a confused glance at the group.

“Are we expecting anyone else?” 

“Yeah some new people from Jesters job are coming apparently” Beau responds, before lounging on the armchair in the sitting room. Nott turns her gaze on Caleb, who does his best to school his face into a mask of composure. He obviously fails as Nott makes her way over and grabs his hand. 

“You doing alright?” Nott asks, swaying their joined hands back and forth gently. 

“Ja, I’m ok, just please stay close if you don’t mind?” Caleb mutters, trying to get his breathing under control. 

New people were hard for Caleb. He was an awkward mess at the best of times, but his friends accepted him. What if these new people didn’t accept him for who he was? What if they thought he was strange and judged him? What if-

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Jester opens the door with enough force to potentially rip it off his hinges and sends a beaming smile at the people in the hall. Inviting the new people in, the first to enter is an incredibly pale woman with arm muscles the size of Caleb's head. The woman has a small tattoo on her face of a line that leads from her bottom lip to her chin. Her hair is long and black, that turns white at the end.

As she steps into the room Caleb notices that her eyes are two different colors. One is a light greenish-blue and the other is strangely purple in color. Caleb doesn’t know if it's a trick of the light, but his attention is pulled to the next person who enters the room. Caleb can feel his breath catch in his throat as he takes in the purple tiefling. The tiefling enters the room and Caleb is immediately captivated by their eyes. The solid ruby red color shines in the light of Jesters hallway. 

Jester and the mystery tiefling enter the room having what appears to be a serious conversation. Caleb sees both sets of eyes flicker over to him for a moment, but tries to ignore it choosing to focus his attention back on the soft pressure of Nott’s hand in his. 

“Guys, I’d like you to meet Yasha and Molly, they just started working at Skiffback tattoo with me and they’re super awesome!” Jester makes quick work of introducing Yasha and Molly to the rest, including Caduceus who had wandered in from the kitchen at some point. Caleb notices from the corner of his eye that Beau had her eyes trained on Yasha, and was doing her usual technique of ‘folding her arms to make her muscles look bigger’. Caleb lets a small smirk slip as Jester gets around to introducing him to Molly. 

“Caleb, this is Molly, he’s an excellent illustrative tattoo artist, Molly this is Caleb, he’s a super smart researcher at the Zadash Museum of History” Molly holds his hand out for Caleb to take, who after a moment of hesitation grips the other man’s hand in his. Caleb is momentarily shocked by the heat that radiates from Molly’s hand. 

“Nice to meet you Caleb, Jester’s mentioned before that she has friends who worked in the museum, I’d love to hear all the behind the scenes secrets” Molly sends a light smirk Caleb’s way before taking his hand away.

“Oh, ah, well what would you like to know?” Caleb stammers, slightly disarmed by the shimmer he notices on Molly’s cheek and upper lip.

“Well, any embarrassing stories of Fjord, particularly if they involve Jester” Molly quickly glances behind him to see if the man in question is anywhere nearby. Thankfully, Fjord is in a conversation with both Jester and Nott. 

“Well there was this one time….”

~~~~~~~~

At some point the two had moved to one of the couches in the sitting room. A mostly empty pizza box lies on the coffee table in front of them, and both have a beer in hand. 

Molly is finishing up another story about a crazy adventure he and Yasha had found themselves on, when they are interrupted by the woman in question.

“Molly, it’s getting pretty late we should probably head home” Caleb had been surprised by the softness of Yasha’s voice when he had first heard it. The term gentle giant suited Yasha to a T, she was quiet for most of the evening, mostly contributing to the conversation when asked a question directly. Molly takes a quick glance down at his watch.

“Wow, yeah it’s almost midnight we should probably head” Molly stands and stretches his arms above his head. Caleb is unable to stop himself from looking at the sliver of skin on Molly’s abdomen that is now exposed, and takes in the small smattering of hair that leads down to Molly’s impossibly skinny jeans. 

Tearing his eyes away from Molly, Caleb finally processes what Yasha has said. He can’t believe he spent close to 5 hours speaking to someone he just met. _Scheisse,_ he has work tomorrow, he needs to get home. 

“Umm Jester, could you give me the number of the local cab place again, Nott and I should probably head home” Caleb makes his way over to Jester and Nott who had been braiding Caduceus’s hair. 

“We could give you a lift if you’d like?” Molly makes his way over to Caleb finishing off the last of his drink. Caleb forces himself not to stare at Molly’s neck like some creep and meets his eyes.

“Oh, ja, if it’s not out of the way for you” Caleb doesn’t know what possessed him to say yes but it would be too awkward to back out now. As Caleb rattles off his address for Molly, he can’t help but notice the growing mirth on Molly’s face. 

“Well, _neighbor,_ I don’t think it’ll be too out of the way to drop you home?” Molly nudges Caleb’s side as he says this.

“Huh?” Caleb is certain he would have noticed a lavender tiefling in his building.

“Did you move into old Victor's place?” Nott asks, finishing up her braid in Caduceus’s hair. 

“Victor moved out?” Caleb asks, wondering how he missed that.

“He got put into a care home when his grandkids caught him trying to cook up some mild explosive powder” Nott answers.

“That would explain the weird smell when we moved in” Molly looks at Yasha, who is silently waiting near the door.

“Oh right, yes, time to head, Caleb, Nott, grab your stuff and let's go” Molly goes to grab his coat, which is a kaleidoscope of color that Caleb has no time to process. 

Caleb and Nott quickly grab their stuff, say quick goodbyes to their friends and head out the door. The car journey is quick, and thankfully not too awkward. 

The four make their way up the stairs, with Nott asking Yasha questions about her face tattoo. Caleb can again feel the heat that seems to perpetually radiate from Molly as the two of them climb the stairs.

Making their way onto their shared floor, Nott says a quick goodbye to Yasha, before the two head their separate ways. Molly turns to Caleb as they reach the top of the stairs. 

“Well, Caleb it was fantastic getting to know you” Molly smiles softly at Caleb. 

“Ah, you too, Mollymauk” and it really was. Caleb couldn’t remember the last time he had ever spent so much time talking to a complete stranger, _and actually enjoyed it._

“Well if you ever need anything, milk, sugar, a shoulder to cry on, I’ll just be down the hall.” Molly chuckles slightly and Caleb thinks he can see the makings of a soft blush on Molly’s cheek. 

“Ah, thank you, and goodnight” Caleb doesn’t know what else to do, so he holds his hand out.

“Goodnight Caleb” Molly chuckles, grabbing Caleb's hand in another warm embrace.


End file.
